Cosign vs The Update Framework
Cosign
github.comThe Update Framework
theupdateframework.ioSide by side
| Figure | Cosign | The Update Framework |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Code Signing Software | 8.5 (#3) | 6.7 (#26) |
| Intended users | The Sigstore integration guidance identifies open-source package managers as primary stakeholders for artifact signing and verification workflows. | The framework is intended for software update systems such as application updaters, programming language library package managers, and operating system package managers. |
| Purpose | Cosign signs and verifies OCI containers and other software artifacts. | TUF is a framework for securing new and existing software update systems, designed to protect against repository and signing key compromise. |
Plans
In their own words
Cosign
Cosign is a free tool for signing and verifying OCI container images and other software artifacts. It can store container signatures in an OCI registry and publish generic artifacts through OCI. Supported targets include blobs, binaries, scripts, configuration files, SBOMs, WASM modules, Tekton bundles, eBPF modules, and in-toto attestations whose payloads use DSSE. Its default keyless workflow uses temporary keys held in memory, short-lived certificates from Sigstore’s Fulcio certificate authority, and entries in the Rekor transparency log. Other signing options include hardware and KMS-backed keys, encrypted keypairs generated by Cosign, and user-provided PKI. Cosign supports CI/CD signing, with guidance for GitHub Actions and GitLab CI/CD. Offline verification is possible when the image and signature materials are available locally and a trusted root is supplied. The project describes Cosign as a legacy signing system and recommends Sigstore-go for verification integrations. Its CLI-focused design has no API stability guarantees, and the documentation does not recommend it for application integration.
The Update Framework
The Update Framework has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.